How did you prepare in the week before your quit date?

My quit date is getting closer and closer, and I am starting to feel like I won't be able to do it. I've slowed down heavily but I still smoke 5 or 6 times, whether it be half a cigarette or a few puffs of a cigar. I really want to know what you guys did in the week or so before your quit date to help you.

I told myself to wait a little while every time I wanted to smoke. that got me off auto pilot. At the end of 4 weeks, I had gone from 20 to 5 and I knew I didn't need to smoke just because I normally would have. I didn't set a quit date until I had proven that to myself. The day I bought my last pack, I knew it.

I did not prepare---I quit completely by"accident" in leaving my cigarettes behind and being too cheap to buy another pack until I got home. When I got home that day......I just thought I'd try a little experiment to see how much longer I could go without one and then into the next day and on and on until it is now almost 8 years later and I am still quit.

BUT-----if I could just offer this advice.......

1. READ everything and anything positive about quitting. I am sure suggestions have been offered to you on this site. I myself like whyquit.com and I still go on there to read from time to time. The articles are well written and cover quite a few of the subjects that occur to us when we are quitting and/or have quit.

2. THINK. Give your self some time for reflection on what will you do INSTEAD of smoking if x,y or z happens. What's your plan to get through the rough spots. THINK. How much is smoking doing for you? What is it taking from you?

3. If you don't have a regular exercise routine....make one up. Even if you only walk 2 blocks every day or if you are wheelchair bound if you decide to exercise your arms or if you can't move your arms if you even move your wheelchair around where you live 2 more times than you usually do......movement is a very healthy way to beat the craves. And a "routine" insures this will become a part of your brand new lifestyle

4. Don't take yourself too seriously. Quitting is hard.....no doubt about it. But, it is by NO MEANS the hardest thing you will ever do. People have gotten through more serious trials and tribulations than quitting smoking. YOU CAN TOO! Keep your sense of humor.

5. Finally----use the support of this site as much as you can. The support here can be 95% of your success. Visit, read, blog, comment-----reach out when you need help.

I had not found this site, or the good information provided on it or elsewhere on the 'net......so I was anxious leading up to my quit date. I was not able to cut down during that final week, because doing so just got me thinking about smoking ALL the time. I pretty much chain smoked the night before!!!

But - I was COMMITTED to doing this, and that made all the difference....and here I am over 5 years later.

I think I would have had an easier time if I had found the materials provided to you, especially the Allen Carr book. I read that the first couple of weeks of my quit, and understanding what was happening when I smoked made ALL the difference to me.

I made 10 Sickerettes last 6 days by first when I wanted a smoke I tried to last another 10 minutes and then another...I also did not smoke more than a puff or two at a time. I had already decided that I would not buy Sickerettes again in my lifetime! A COPD diagnosis can do that for some people (sadly, not all!)

I spent the week before my quit (actually the month before my quit), by getting my head in the right place for it. Having quit a couple of times prior, I knew what I was in for. And I knew my weakness to the addiction. So I put up little stickies on the day of my quit with positive affirmations. I didn't have the wealth of knowledge that this site provides. But I did have another site with support that told me I was not alone. And that helped a lot.

Part of your homework is to read as much as you can. A strong preparation makes for a strong quit. This has to become a priority in your life. If it's not, you won't make it. Quitting smoking takes a LOT of attention. Like becoming proficient at anything - playing the piano, crocheting, catching fish - you have to devote the necessary time in understanding the skill and then practicing it. This is an all day, every day thing.

You need to ask yourself questions and answer them. Am I willing to make this a priority in my life? (If you say no this first question, then you will not make it.) What sacrifices am I willing to make for this choice? Am I willing to accept the journey with all it's ups and downs? How long am I willing to hang on if the cravings last longer than I think they should? (I said I will hang on for as long as it takes to get me to where I want to be, for example.) What, if any, are the reasons (aka excuses) that I will give myself to smoke (aka relapse). If you list ONE, then you haven't yet understood the commitment necessary. For when you do commit 100% of yourself to this endeavor, excuses aren't part of your play book. How much effort am I willing to put into this? What will I do when I have a bad craving? This is all part of your prep homework. Quitting take thinking and a pro-active management system (i.e. continuing education). Just not putting a cigarette in your mouth on day one won't do it for you. Well, unless you're in the minority, like my husband who put them down and never looked back. Lucky guy!

I didn't want to quit. Nobody really wants to quit. We're addicted to smoking. What we 'want' is to be free of the addiction because we know it's slowly killing us. Get your head in the right place through the education you'll receive here. READING is your best resource!

I downloaded and read Freedom from Nicotine from whyquit.com. I still have it to go back to. I came on here and posted. I bought patches. I did not slow down on smoking. I simply set a date and when it came, I made a commitment not to smoke and started using my quit tools to stay smoke-free.

I cannot emphasize enough how much learning about nicotine addiction helped me.

The most important lesson I learned is that one equals all. To be successful I must make a commitment to get the nicotine out of my body and not put it back in there, no matter what.

I got sick...I had been "preparing" to quit over and over and over again. I tracked cigarettes and triggers and I made myself honestly evaluate what smoking did FOR me. It did nothing to help with stress or anger or pain or ANYTHING! It kept making me sicker and sicker as I was denying it. Finally, I got so sick that even my strongest denial couldn't break through. It is NOT WORTH it...the price that you will eventually pay for smoking is endless. Quitting is a journey and not an event and you CAN do this. Stay close to the site, blog, comment, ask questions...we will be here to help in any way that we can.

I actually didn't find this site until the day of my quit. I was taking Chantix and used the Chantix website to prepare for my quit. Here's the thing....I didn't quit on the 8th day of taking Chantix. I quit on the 9th when I decided to smoke my last cigarette in the pack and promptly went to bed.

I found this site on my first day of being quit and began listening to Alan Carr's Easy Way to quit smoking and something in my head clicked along with this website and community and I have never looked back!

In preparing to quit, I would recommend reading everything you possibly can on this site and making up your mind to quit! Get your quit box ready and read read read! You can do this!

I should mention that I had found this place months before I actually quit and I had done the tracking and the triggers and had it all written out...I did not start actively participating on the site until I had been quit for a week...the week I was in bed trying my best to breathe. I did the tracking and triggers from the home page MyQuitPlan. I will not tell you that it was easy, it was work, I had to really work at quitting and at STAYING quit. There were many challenges but I absolutely knew that I wanted to quit and STAY that way. I read everything that was recommended, I leaned on the people on this site like you would not believe, I came here first thing every morning and last thing in the day. I was actually late for work a few times during the first weeks that I quit because I wanted to read all that I could to reinforce my quit before I left for work. Please remember that we are here and that your success is very important to each of us. I MEAN that!

Thanks for sharing. I prepared myself to quit after I decided/became willing to quit.

I followed a lot of online how to-s that were sound minded (no free ride stuff). I searched the internet--youtube etc for ideas and info. I had to plan. The last time I tried to quit was in 2009--I did it on the spur of the moment (although most smokers toy with the idea of quitting so in a way it was not entirely spur of the moment) and lasted only about 9 hours. So in September 2013 when I decided to give quitting my best effort...I looked for help in doing so.

I did not come to EX until a year ago, some online passive support (State Quit Site, Youtube stories of quitting, youtube videos extolling health benefits....etc.) I tried suggestions even if I didn't feel they would work...like write out a reason's to quit list and write a letter to yourself about your desire to quit.

I saved my spent cigs in a jar and got another jar to save money in from all the butts I would no be smoking. I still have that jar today and do not plan to throw it away--it's up top in a cupboard not front and center. I just don't want to forget how fast ash and butts can collect in a jar ...from the habit.

I bought straws and penny candy and told myself, "you are doing this." I wanted to quit, but the thought of quitting made me very anxious and if I didn't tell myself to make my best effort, go all in and let the act of not smoking work it's magic in time, I would have talked myself out of quitting. What addict wouldn't.

It's not about will power but it is about understanding that one can quit --even though that may mean some discomfort for a little while. It's doable.

I'm coming up on 4 years pretty soon. I'm not sad about the $11,000-plus I did not spend on butts since 2013. I'm not sad about the 30,000 cigarettes that I didn't get around to smoking these past years. I'm not sad about about how sweet the air is in my lungs. But when I planned to quit I was sad and anxious.

Stick around, participate and read...find your yes, I'm ready.

(I also delayed smoking prior to quitting. Especially if I had a sudden impulse--I was practicing standing down--it helped)